Whence the call for dictatorship?

Oath Keeper Stuart Rhodes is convicted of seditious conspiracy. He sought a sort of coup which would have negated the election of President Biden, and the retention of Trump as President. But there are those of that ilk in Canada too: some in the occupation convoy sought to replace elected Prime Minister Trudeau with the Governor General and the Senate, neither of whom and which had been elected.

The point in common between them, irrespective of their causes, is that they sought an unelected leader with broad powers. There is a case to be made that this advocacy is quite consistent with the leaders who seek the power to change legislation by Cabinet order, as in Alberta. It is also consistent with leaders who choose to avoid the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – part of the Constitution of Canada – through freewheeling applications of the Notwithstanding Clause, as in Ontario and Québec.

All of those leaders – from Stuart Rhodes to Premier Legault – seek to avoid government by duly elected representatives. We consider here why government by elected officials might be considered undesirable. Is it because such systems are ponderous and messy, often producing no results? Or is it because elected governments make decisions which displease those seeking their replacement? Or both, or something else entirely?

Governance is about choices. Democracy is chaotic and often stupid. Some will be unhappy. Are those who are unhappy prepared to accept the choices (or refusal to make a choice) of elected representatives during their term of office?

In a diverse, free and multicultural society, it is not necessary for populism to represent a majority view in order to be the dominant force. It just needs to be the single biggest group by virtue of focussed issues advocacy. Populism is the bully pulpit.

Focussed minorities have power beyond truly democratic ideals. Canada has a Charter of Rights to counter such powers. We set aside our democratic rights through invocation of the Notwithstanding Clause. Accepting this, we are like monks flagellating themselves with birch rods.